Several types of such cam-equipped connectors are known in the art. For example, a connector described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,586,771 consists of a male connector with a cam groove and a female connector having a slide-type cam with a pin fitting in the cam groove, and the female connector is equipped with a slide type cam having a cam groove matching with a pin formed on the male connector as a cam follower. In addition, in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 93-90846, another type of connector is described. It consists of a female connector equipped with a rotary-type cam having a groove matching with a pin formed on the male connector.
In these connectors equipped with cam devices, it is necessary to retain both connectors in a temporary joined position before operating the cam, but in conventional cam-equipped connectors, there is no device to retain the connectors in the temporary joined position. Therefore, when joining conventional cam-equipped connectors, the operator had to keep them in the temporary joined position while operating the cam, thus making this process very difficult.
In order to make operation of such cam-equipped connectors easier, it is possible to provide them with devices for temporary joining both connectors. But the problem is where exactly this temporary joining device should be located.
Generally, temporary joining devices are often in the form of lugs, etc. on the walls forming the joining cavity of the female connector to retain the male connector. However, if lugs are located on the walls of joining cavity of the female connector, it is necessary to provide grooves or depressions in the walls, thus reducing their strength. But when the cam device is operated, the walls of the joining cavity experience rather high stress. Therefore, it is not desirable to reduce the strength of the walls. This can be done by increasing thickness of the walls, but it is not desirable either, since it will lead to an increase in size.
In addition, the cam-equipped connectors have the following disadvantages. In order to join the connectors, they have to be temporarily joined. If, during this temporary joining, the male connector is not properly aligned relative to the joining cavity of the female connector, edges of the male connector can come against male contacts located in the joining cavity and deform them; in some cases such deformation is referred to as "twisting". In many applications the connectors are joined manually which substantially increases the danger of contact deformation.